Baidaj harvesting is a time of celebration and marks the O’odham New Year right before monsoon downpours sweep through the Southwest with the smell of desert rain. The harvest is a cultural pillar to the O’odham people in the Sonoran Desert, however they are growing increasingly concerned about earlier blooms of the saguaro cactus flower and earlier ripening of baidaj, the saguaro fruit.

In the summer heat, the saguaro cactus fruit ripens, turning bright red before it bursts open with its juicy pulp and black seeds on full display. Traditionally, the O’odham celebrate the new year by baidaj harvesting in late June, a vital part of their culture. Families contribute a portion of their harvest to the community’s rain ceremonies – known as Jujkida. It’s a time to reflect, pray and to celebrate the renewal of life.

Tohono O’odham and Akimel O’odham have ancestral knowledge of the desert that’s been passed down generations. It helps them maintain a growing body of observations and empirical evidence that span millennia. In more recent years, O’odham throughout the desert are noting the saguaro cactus fruit is ripening earlier and more sporadically.

“One of the benefits of knowing the land intimately and continuing these practices of harvest, not just of baidaj but different types of food throughout the year, we're able to observe those differences with our own eyes,” said Amy Juan, who is a Tohono O’odham Nation citizen and a manager at the San Xavier Co-op Farm.

Baidaj harvesting was interrupted 60 years ago with the establishment of the Saguaro National Park but now the effects of climate change are mounting concerns.

Baidaj harvesting in the Southwest

O’odham teachings have long maintained that the ha:sañ – the saguaros – are their sacred relatives and that the first saguaro started as a human. They see the baidaj as a gift from their relatives and harvesting the fruit is a celebration. The practice is an important part of fulfilling the O’odham himdag – which is a way of being, a holistic life path that values living in balance and mental, physical and spiritual health.

A 1950s photo of an O'odham woman and children baidaj harvesting. (Courtesy: Arizona Historical Society)

When the fruit ripens red, it’s ready to eat but they don’t harvest it right away. “We wait about two to three weeks in to let wildlife and birds eat first. They wait all year for the fruit to ripen, we want to make sure they eat first,” Juan said.

The last week of June is typically the week families start to go out to harvest, she says. “It’s usually after the summer solstice when everybody kicks into gear and starts doing their harvesting. Schools and camps are harvesting. Families are planning on going out on the Fourth of July weekend,” Juan said. “Instead of celebrating a colonial holiday we are celebrating harvesting and it all goes back to the rain ceremonies.”

Lisa Chavez from the Ak-Chin Indian Community visited the Arizona Heritage Center to harvest baidaj with Museum Education Curator, Allison Avery. They used a kuipud to reach the fruit, a traditional harvesting stick. (Courtesy: Arizona Historical Society)

Before they begin they sing the baidaj harvesting song. “We have songs that connect us to everything that we do, the mountains around us, our foods, the different times of the year for different harvests and ceremonies and all of those good things,” Juan said. The harvesting song is about how red the fruit is when it ripens on top of the ha:sañ (pronounced, ha-shan). “It's enticing you, it's calling you out to the desert and if you have ever gone baidaj harvesting, you know exactly what that feeling is, you start off in one place and you can wander and wander because you're enticed by the fruit as you're going deeper and deeper into your harvesting,” Juan said.

Baidaj harvesting is an essential part of the Jujkida – the O’odham rain dance ceremonies – between late July and early August. Baidaj sitol – saguaro fruit syrup – is used to make wine for rain ceremonies. But before that they make a kui:pud - a picking stick - out of the ribs of dead saguaros. The act of harvesting in itself is considered a ceremony, pulling down the fruit from a 40 foot tall saguaro is like pulling down the rain from the clouds, Juan explained.

O'odham do not harvest baidaj as soon as it's ripe, they wait a few weeks for the wildlife to eat first. (Courtesy: NPS)

The dry flower can be snapped off from the fruit and used as a knife to cut open the pod. A piece of the fruit picked from the first harvest is put over the heart and prayed over. It’s a regenerative time, a time to be reflective and to determine where you want to be, Juan said. The pod is supposed to be left at the base of the saguaro it came from, on the ground with the red side facing up to entice the clouds to bring down the rain. Families stay at camps in the desert for days or even weeks to harvest as much fruit as they can.

“Some families have had run-ins at the park. They’ve been told they can’t harvest or they’re harvesting too much, there’s those kinds of conversations. But we’ve fought and have stood up for ourselves and helped others when they brought up those concerns,” Juan said. She added that the park uses O’odham culture and traditions to promote tourism and that O’odham have a right to ancestral gathering and hunting grounds.

“In the park’s eyes, it’s harmful to the land, harmful to the ha:sañ. We don’t see it that way. It’s a relationship,” Juan said. “If we’re not out there, they’re not going to feel wanted or needed, we’re not going to be out there celebrating their harvest, celebrating their fruit.” Juan says O’odham science is in observation and in being present consistently. Baidaj harvesting is a reciprocal relationship with the environment and she plans on reestablishing her family’s presence in the park. She believes it’s important to remind national parks that Indigenous people are just “as much of a land conservation effort as they are.”

Alarming trends disrupt ‘time honored dates’

The Akimel O’odham are the river people. They have historically resided along the Gila River and Salt River, in what’s now known as the greater Phoenix area. The Akimel O’odham live in the Gila River Indian Community, the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community and the Ak-Chin Indian Community.

The Tohono O’odham are the desert people and live in villages throughout the Tohono O’odham Nation, which stretches across southern Arizona bordering Tucson. The sister tribes all have baidaj harvesting in common but the desert and river people have always had slight differences in their harvests because they live in slightly different climates.

Tucson’s elevation is 2,643 feet above sea level and Phoenix has an elevation that’s 1,086 feet above sea level. That difference in elevation makes the average high temperature in Phoenix slightly higher than Tucson. Phoenix has more sunny days and gets less rainfall than Tucson each year – with Tucson averaging over 12 inches of precipitation a year and Phoenix averaging just over 9 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

Blooming flowers on the crown of a saguaro. Shortly after the flower is pollinated the fruit ripens, turning red. (Photo by: NPS/T. Foley)

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